Catholic Charities of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties

Catholic Charities of San Bernardino and Riverside counties are proud to announce that Raquel Marquez is the 2008 winner of their fifth annual “HOPE FOR YOUTH” award. Ms. Marquez is the first Mexican-American female prosecutor in Riverside County and serves as a Deputy District Attorney. Much of her career has been devoted to advocating on behalf of children. She coordinates the District Attorney's contribution to the YAT (Youth Accountability Team) and SARB (School Attendance Review Boards) teams throughout Western Riverside communities.

Catholic Charities CEO, Ken F. Sawa chose Marquez because, “her life is an example of potentiality fulfilled, her concern, intense involvement, and belief in the possibilities of young people who have had rough starts, is very inspiring. Her work is a perfect fit with the spirit of “HOPE FOR YOUTH” program, which is to provide hope by providing opportunities for success.”

The “HOPE FOR YOUTH” Fund is a Catholic Charities program that makes possible activities that promote the healthy development of low-income youth with limited opportunities by infusing financial support and mentoring to help empower the potential of individual’s ages 6 – 24 years.
The “Hope for Youth” honoree is given a $2,000 donation in their name, to the charity of their choosing, provided that it serves low-income youth. The criteria for selection of a winner is based upon “the example they set in their actions and by how much they successful give back to the community.”

The third of four children, Raquel’s origins are similar to the socio-economic level that many of the children she helps now as a Deputy District Attorney. Her parents Guadalupe and Jesus Marquez immigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1962. Through their tireless sacrifice her mother working as a housekeeper and her father in construction, the Marquez family had a humble, but stable Catholic home in Sacramento, California. Neither of her parents had the opportunity to receive a formal education. Yet their family success story reads like an “American Dream” on steroids, her sister is a Professor in Biochemistry at UC Berkeley and her brother a top attorney in Santa Clara.

Always an optimistic and humble person, she attributes her success to the opportunities provided by others, “as a child, I was greatly impacted by the selfless, committed lives of numerous Catholic nuns that made me, and countless others, understand that life must be lived with meaning. I feel blessed beyond words to have the opportunity to give back to the lives of countless youth and their families.”

Ms. Marquez has made it a personal forte to make lemonade out of lemons, most of the time by creating success out of personal imitative. The big break in her life came in the form of a happy accident during high school. While cleaning-up the library, she watched from afar, as the Bishop Monogue High School Mock Trial team practiced closing arguments. Coming to the aid of a floundering student, she stepped and said, “do it like this,” and then proceeded to deliver a masterful closing argument that had the team advisors scrambling to signing her up for the team. Raquel eventfully ended up leading the team to win the regional championships and she was recognized as the "Best Attorney" in the state competition.

Serving others has been a life-long passion for Raquel Marquez, being at Santa Clara University during her undergraduate years where she advocated on behalf of Native American, to facilitate the inclusion of Native American students into the university. Her strong work ethic from there translated into Raquel eventually attending the UCLA School of Law and earning her Juris Doctor in May 1991. During her time in law school, she was the winner of the Skadden Fellowship Foundation Award, the Skadden Foundation has been described as "a legal Peace Corps." The scholarship is awarded to those who wish to devote their professional lives to providing legal services to the poor.

Although the Catholic Charities award caught her by surprise, she knew about “the unbelievable things and wonderful people at Catholic Charities who are acting like glue to help hold the communities together.” She felt an immediate affinity with their parallel missions, and commented how “on a daily basis, I am energized by the work that I have been entrusted to complete and by the partnerships that I have made with countless others who are committed to serving the needs of those families that are most at-risk. I am truly honored.”

The Fifth Annual “HOPE FOR YOUTH” Dinner is on November 8, 2008 at the historic Victoria Club in Riverside, CA.